Dance Movement Therapy is the evidence-based use of dance and movement in therapy for promoting physical, emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual integration of individuals and systems of individuals. As an arts therapy approach it has the potential to contribute to activation, stabilization and recovery in the context of prevention, acute intervention, and rehabilitation. In both research and clinical practice, there is an increasing interest in dance movement therapy approaches as an significant enhancement to standard care. Dance movement therapists do not work exclusively in traditional settings such as psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine, or special education. Dance Movement Therapy is also applied in neurology, oncology, cardiovascular medicine, etc. and increasingly in preventive care.
Dance movement therapists work in the following fields:
- Psychiatry Psychosomatics and psychotherapy
- Neurology
- Geriatrics
- Forensic Contexts
- Pediatrics
- Intensive medicine centers (for example neurology, oncology, pain) and sub-acute care facilities
- Psychosocial institutions for children and families with special needs, disabilities and early intervention
- Institutions of prevention and education (e.g., schools, youth offers, kindergartens)
The applied master’s degree in dance movement therapy at the SRH University Heidelberg was developed within the framework of European alignment and recognition of university degrees (the Bologna Process) and accredited in 2012. It offers graduates of artistic or psychosocial study programs a qualified education in dance movement therapy.
In contrast to other master’s degrees in Germany
...this program is designed as a two-year full-time program and generally begins in the winter semester on October 1st. The program details can be found in the official program handbook. The program consists of 120 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) points, and students earn an accredited degree that gives access to world-wide access to doctoral programs. The language of the program is English.
The applied master’s degree in dance movement therapy consists of the following modules:
- Module 1: Introduction to therapy sciences
- Module 2: Introduction to dance therapy
- Module 3: Psychology
- Module 4: Dance movement therapy skills
- Module 5: Clinical psychology I (psychotherapy approaches)
- Module 6: Clinical psychology II (psychiatry, psychosomatics & psychotherapy)
- Module 7: Neurology & quantitative research methods
- Module 8: Movement observation and movement analysis
- Module 9: Clinical placement
- Module 10: Evidence-based clinical practice
- Module 11: Assessment & clinical practice with children and adolescents
- Module 12: Arts therapies and specific applications
- Module 13: Body-oriented therapy & mindfulness
- Module 14: Advanced placement (clinical or research)
- Module 15: Professionalization, law & ethics
- Module 16: Master's thesis